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Often the best way to drive home a business case is to back it up with stats and for fuel efficient driving, the stats are nothing short of staggering.

The Energy Saving Trust estimates most fleets can save up to 15% in fuel costs as a result of implementing fuel efficient driving policies.

More than half (55%) of all businesses which use telematics highlighted fuel costs as one of the major benefits in the RAC’s Telematics Report 2016 whilst 43% also cited fewer collisions and 49% experienced a reduction in speeding incidents and fines.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to make a difference is to encourage drivers to adopt more consistent levels of speed.

The Trust illustrates this graphically highlighting how fuel efficiency drops by as much as 27% for a large diesel van when travelling at 75mph compared to 60 mph. Even for petrol and diesel powered vehicles (1400-2000cc, Euro 5) fuel efficiency drops by 12.8% and 17.7% respectively.

Take a look below at Hubio Fleet’s top tips on reducing your fuel costs:

Research by insurance company Direct Line found drivers who braked and accelerated excessively spend £560 more on fuel each year. The study, which analysed 319,000 journeys made by 2,000 drivers, found that smoother drivers were able to reduce their visits to fuel stations from an average of 20 times to 12 a year.

Drivers can also reduce fuel consumption by 5% when turning off their air conditioning when it isn’t necessary according to ADEME France.

UK motorists waste £246 million a year by running cars on under-inflated tyres, according to Michelin. The 2015 research found that as many as 62% of vehicles on the road were being driven on under-inflated tyres with more than a third (37%) having one tyre which was ‘dangerously’ under-inflated.

Fuel efficient and safer driving go hand in hand and as well as savings at the fuel pump, a reduction in accident costs and insurance premiums are likely. When the Energy Saving Trust conducted a review of the Carlsberg UK fleet, the company managed to reduce and hold their insurance premiums over a three-year period.

The combination of modern engines and telematics to positively influence driver behaviour means companies can save hundreds of pounds on their fuel bills and on other motoring expenses.

Monitoring drivers has ditched its Big Brother image, and now plays a vital part in helping companies manage its fleets. From ensuring vehicles are not used out-of-hours to identifying drivers with bad driving habits, there are many positive aspects of driver monitoring, particularly around Duty of Care.

One Hubio client Skilled Labour Services (Southern) Ltd, which provide construction teams complete with van to developments across the south, has saved 15% on its monthly fuel bill after implementing its Hubio telematics. The £600 a month saving on fuel is a result of installing telematics in each of its vans which has enabled managing director Richard Allen to track where any of its vans are at any given point, This makes it easy to establish those being used for private mileage and to monitor driver behaviour which affects fuel consumption.

Meanwhile, Carlsberg UK has saved £568,687 and 502,549 litres of fuel since 2011 after the Energy Savings Trust undertook its ‘Green Fleet Review’ of its fleet of 296 vehicles . The environmental impact is also huge with 1,346 fewer tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere as a result.

With evidence suggesting fuel efficient driving does not increase journey times, telematics helps educate drivers by providing the information fleet managers need to illustrate how savings can be made.

Increasingly, companies are reporting how vehicle cameras have helped them successfully defend against insurance claims.

Other than negotiation and comparing quotes, the only way to lower costs is to have fewer claims or to manage the claims more efficiently. One of the best ways to reduce claims is to collate supporting evidence which categorically shows your driver was not at fault. Cue the vehicle camera!

Hubio’s most advanced telematics system incorporates GPS vehicle tracking and driver behaviour monitoring, along with an integrated 3G camera ensuring any incident is captured on film. The film can be used as evidence should an incident occur and can reduce the likelihood of a 50-50 when insurance companies agree to take on board their own driver’s costs if blame can’t be attributed to one driver.

According to a Fleet News poll, 69% of respondents said they would consider using a dash-cam and 15% had already installed the technology. An increasing number of fleets are opting for self-insured premiums to help reduce mounting costs, the camera is fast becoming a vital piece of equipment to protect assets and it is increasingly helping resolve insurance disputes.

With the majority of larger fleets being self-insured, the camera plays a vital role in providing filmed assets to support the First Notification of Loss (FNOL). The assets help support and speed up taking control of the vehicle recovery and repairs which is vital in keeping incident management costs down.

Find out how Hubio’s systems can help you keep track of your fleet, monitor driver behaviour to identify any training requirements and, crucially, provide supporting evidence in insurance claims and driver accidents.

Vehicle tracking has played a key factor in the successful operation of this Norfolk haulage company for over a decade

A Norfolk based haulage company is celebrating 10 years of using vehicle tracking by installing the latest version of Hubio Fleet’s web based fleet tracking system.

Carter Haulage & Storage runs a mixed fleet of 28 trucks and over 80 trailers from its headquarters near King’s Lynn, west Norfolk, ranging from 44 to 150 tonnes GVW.

High value fleet management

The 44-tonne trucks are used for general haulage and carry onions, potatoes and sugar beet depending on the season. The Carter Haulage fleet also comprises high value and highly specialist low loaders and semi low loaders. These support customers in the UK and Europe with a specialist service for the movement of abnormal loads and machinery.

This high value fleet means Carter Haulage use Hubio Track and Trace for tracking its vehicles and their loads in real time which also enables them to keep customers informed of estimated consignment arrival times. Customer peace of mind has been a key factor in Carter continually using vehicle tracking across its fleet.

Hubio Track and Trace enables fleets to identify the last known position of each vehicle and its journey history as well as capturing key data such as idling times, out of hour’s usage and utilisation of auxiliary devices such as cranes which feature on some of the Carter Haulage fleet. It guarantees around the clock asset management, even when the vehicles make an occasional trip abroad.

Efficiently managing drivers

For Carter Haulage, its drivers are as valuable to the business as its vehicles, with its heavy haulage service employing some of the most highly trained drivers in the country to STGO level.

Carter Haulage’s director Carl Carter says he is paying attention to the Hubio driver scoreboards that monitor his driver’s behaviour.

He said: “We have 30 drivers on our books and they represent the company extremely well. Drivers are used to working in vehicles that have tracking and so far we haven’t had any red alerts in the past 12 months,” he added.

Catering for individual customer needs

Hubio is intent on providing customers with technology features that meet their individual requirements. When Carl spoke to the Hubio customer service team and requested an arrow to be placed against a vehicle on the map screen to show its direction of travel it was quickly added.

“I’m really pleased that Hubio Fleet took my suggestion on board and added an arrow. It saves time for me at a glance to know which direction my vehicles are travelling in. We carry 240,000 tonnes of sugar beet in the 24-week season and making sure I can divert a driver or reschedule a load quickly and efficiently is vital to optimise our vehicle fleet,” he said.

Hubio Fleet recently launched its integrated 3G video camera and vehicle tracking unit which transmits high quality images via the Cloud of a driving incident directly to its Fleet platform. It can immediately support an operator’s claim with First Notification of Loss (FNOL) in the event of an accident.

Carl is considering trialling the new Hubio Fleet 3G video camera system on the Carter Haulage fleet. He said: “I have cameras fitted on some of my other vehicles. They certainly help support those drivers who are travelling in and around town and city centres.”

Hubio Fleet’s general manager Russell Olive is excited to work with forward thinking truck fleets like Carter Haulage. He said: “Carl and his fellow directors run a highly professional and well run transport operation, and they value the support that vehicle tracking can provide in managing their vehicles, loads and drivers to optimise efficiencies. It’s great to see how their customers also value vehicle tracking. We wish them well in their next decade of vehicle tracking use,” he added.